Men's Tennis

Damien David Named MAC Player of the Year; Ionescu Also Honored

Apr 29, 2014

BUFFALO, NY - For the second straight season, a member of the UB men's tennis team has earned the Mid-American Conference's highest honor, as junior Damien David was named the MAC's Player of the Year. The Montreal native was also named to the All-MAC first team, and his classmate Sebastian Ionescu was named to the conference's second team.

David had a 3-1 MAC record in singles play and 10-9 overall as he led Buffalo to the MAC Tournament Championship match against Ball State. Previously in his career, David was named 2012 All-MAC First Team and 2013 All-MAC Second Team. This follows Vusa Hove's honor for the 2013 season. During the Spring dual season, in which the team achieved its first national ranking in program history, David was named the MAC Singles Player of the Week on April 9 and shared Doubles Team of the Week honors with Akhil Mehta on March 16.

"Damien really turned it on at the end of the season and had a win that propelled us into the MAC championship," head coach Lee Nickell said. "This is quite an honor and we are very proud that he won the award."

Ionescu earned his first postseason honor as a Bull after having a standout season at second singles. He went 2-2 in MAC duals, highlighted by a three-set tiebreaker win over Western Michigan that helped clinch the team's spot in the postseason tournament. He earned MAC Singles Player of the Week honors on March 21 after going 2-0 with wins over Central Florida and Illinois State.